Gut Reaction: George Paton’s Broncos Redemption Is Complete

All the rumors and speculation can be put to bed. Denver Broncos general manager George Paton isn't going anywhere after signing a five-year contract extension on Friday.

Since the offseason began, rumors had circulated around Paton, connecting him to the still vacant GM job with the Minnesota Vikings — the team with whom he spent the preceding 14 years before he arrived in Denver in 2021. There was likely some truth to it; the Vikings still haven't hired a GM to replace Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was fired in January, although V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski has held down the fort as Minnesota's top football executive.

Brzezinski may have been waiting to see how the Paton situation resolved itself in Denver, but now he's got his answer. Paton will continue leading the Broncos' front office through the 2030 season.

Commitment to Continuity

The Broncos are prioritizing continuity, and with how quickly things have turned around since Sean Payton was hired as head coach in 2023, that's a valuable commodity.

Paton's tenure as the Broncos' GM has had its ups and downs, but given the team's current trajectory, the Walton-Penner ownership group couldn't risk upsetting the apple cart. Since Payton arrived, two years after Paton joined the front office, the Broncos have won 32 regular-season games, a division title, earned two playoff berths, won a playoff game, and hosted the AFC championship game.

Over the past two years, the Paton-Payton regime has totaled 24 regular-season wins, which is tied for the second-most in the NFL over that span, trailing only the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles (25). And while the Broncos' fortunes have risen, the Kansas City Chiefs have taken a turn in the opposite direction, missing the playoffs last season and being dethroned by Denver as AFC West champs.

When it comes to Paton, the proof is in the pudding. The results speak for themselves: the Broncos have established collective success in the standings while multiple individual players have thrived and earned accolades.

Since replacing John Elway as the Broncos' GM in 2021, Paton has only made three first-round draft picks: cornerback Patrick Surtain II, quarterback Bo Nix, and cornerback Jahdae Barron. Two of those three have blossomed into franchise cornerstones, while one is still ripening on the vine.

Whether it's been through the draft or free agency, nine of Paton's acquisitions have combined for 16 All-Pro nods during his tenure as GM, which is tied for the fifth-most in the NFL over that span. We're talking about Surtain, wide receiver/returner Marvin Mims Jr., rush linebacker Nik Bonitto, right guard Quinn Meinerz, defensive lineman Zach Allen, and safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Devon Key, who have all earned All-Pro recognition from the Associated Press.

Former Broncos safety Justin Simmons and left tackle Garett Bolles also earned All-Pro honors during Paton's tenure, and both were extended by him. Paton's eye for talent, whether it's from the college or pro ranks, is proven.

Fully Atoned for Past Mistakes

Denver Broncos GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton. | Gabriel Christus/Denver Broncos

Paton and Payton obviously have great chemistry and a strong working relationship. Payton can be hard to love, but he and Paton, from a philosophical and personnel perspective, see the world the same, and that will continue to redound to the Broncos' lasting benefit.

We can talk about the Russell Wilson disaster. But there wasn't a quarterback-needy GM in the NFL who wouldn't have made that deal with Seattle back in 2022. At 33, Wilson landed in Denver with 10 NFL seasons under his belt, nine of which saw him earn Pro Bowl honors, while he missed the playoffs only twice, winning a Super Bowl along the way.

I don't want to linger too much on Wilson, the trade, or the contract extension he received, because Paton has atoned for it in more ways than one, the most obvious of which was the drafting of Nix. After releasing Wilson in March of 2024, the Broncos took it on the chin, eating a then-NFL-record $85 million in dead money charges to the salary cap.

Paton suddenly needed a quarterback, and for the first time in a couple of years, he actually had a first-round pick in a draft that was deep at the position. The Broncos did their homework on the entire class, but they ultimately fell in love with Nix, and he managed to fall to them at No. 12 overall.

It was like Nix landing in Denver was meant to be. He was the sixth quarterback drafted in the first round that year, behind Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr., and J.J. McCarthy.

Paton worried that he might have to trade up to land Nix, but when Atlanta took Penix, the Vikings became the only team that Denver had to worry about. Payton claims he baited the Vikings into taking McCarthy over Nix by pretending the Broncos wanted the former Michigan star and were interested in trading up.

The rest is history. Nix landed in Denver, and the Broncos went from 0-to-60 in no time flat. Nix beat out Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson for the starting job, becoming the first rookie quarterback in Broncos history to start the season-opener since Elway in 1983. Talk about a positive harbinger.

It's not easy to win in the NFL. It's especially difficult to do so with a rookie quarterback knee-deep in a trial-and-error learning curve, but the Broncos won 10 games with Nix in 2024 and snapped their heretofore eight-year playoff drought. It's infinitely harder to win with a rookie QB when you're strapped down with $85 million in dead money, which is cap space your NFL rivals can spend on players, but you can't.

The 2024 season didn't end pretty, with Nix and the Broncos getting blown out in Upstate New York by the Bills 31-7. Thankfully, Nix and the Broncos learned the requisite lessons from that disappointment, and applied to the 2025 season, tying a franchise record with 14 wins.

And wouldn't you know it? After earning the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC, the Broncos came out of their first-round bye having drawn the Bills on the divisional-round schedule. Only this time, the Bills would have to travel to Mile High.

What ensued was one of the most iconic playoff games in Broncos history, I would argue, which saw Nix and Josh Allen duel back and forth, with all the marbles coming down to overtime. Nix came out on top, although he paid the dear price of fracturing his ankle on the third-to-last play, but the Broncos got their revenge and advanced to the Super Bowl, albeit sans their young franchise quarterback.

We know what happened from there. If Nix doesn't get hurt in that Bills game, he's there to host the New England Patriots in the AFC title game, and the Broncos likely advance to the Super Bowl to face the Seattle Seahawks. Alas, Broncos Country was robbed of that experience, but Nix is just getting started, so there's time yet to return to that conference championship game.

Give Paton Credit

None of this would have been possible without Paton. The Wilson trade and the subsequent botched hiring of former head coach Nathaniel Hackett left plenty of egg on Paton's face, but together with Payton, he has atoned for it by quickly retooling the Broncos and forging this team into a bona fide Super Bowl contender.

With the Paton extension sewn up, the Broncos can now turn their attention to the future and start figuring out what to do with several players entering a contract year, like Mims, cornerbacks Riley Moss and Ja'Quan McMillian, safety Brandon Jones, and left guard Ben Powers.

With Nix's extension coming down the pike as soon as 2027, Paton has to start budgeting now for a massive quarterback contract in the not-too-distant future, but some of these players on expiring contracts are too important to the big picture to let walk after 2026.

Hats off to Paton and the Broncos, though. This was a deal that needed to happen. Fans wondered whether the Walton-Penners were dragging their feet, but everything has its time and place.

Paton is locked in for the foreseeable future, and on the heels of a seven-player draft class, the Broncos are once again loaded for bear on this hunt.

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